UFC on Fox

Saturday: 5 p.m. at United Center, Chicago

On the air: Ch. 5/69

It wasn’t so long ago that an overwhelming number of Americans probably considered mixed martial arts, along with irreconcilable differences, as the most popular grounds for divorce. Who had heard of MMA, and even if you had, why would you care?

Well, people care about it now. Millions do. MMA, a not-so-sweet scientific mixture of wrestling and fighting played out in an octagon cage, has become the hot sport of this millennium, spilling out of video games onto a canvas. Pong is dead. Unlike the no-holds-barred sport that came here from Brazil in 1993, there are many rules in place now. Fighters even wear fingerless gloves.

Boxing may be more popular internationally, but in this country, MMA has taken over because a lot of U.S. thrill-seekers prefer choke holds and kicks to jabs and hooks from no-name stiffs. It’s nastier. It’s crazier.

What the sport has done is provide a place for legitimate wrestlers who once had nowhere else to go if they couldn’t act or didn’t care to learn the art of burlesque. And this is where Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis comes into the column.

Davis, who trains in Chula Vista, was a four-time NCAA wrestling All-American, finishing fifth in the nationals in the 197-pound weight class in 2008 and then winning the 197-pound NCAA Championships in 2009. Upon graduating from Penn State with a degree in kinesiology, he immediately turned to MMA, signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2009.

The 27-year-old Davis will be fighting as a professional for just the 10th time when he takes on second-ranked Rashad Evans on Saturday night in Chicago, headlining the UFC on Fox card. But he’s unbeaten and already ranks sixth in the UFC’s light heavyweight (205 pounds) division. The winner of this fight almost certainly will earn a shot at top dog Jon Jones.

Not bad for a young man out of Harrisburg, Pa., who really had no ambition to get into MMA but did so on a dare.

“We just kind of crossed paths,” Davis says of himself and MMA. “But it comes down to one guy who said I should think about it and at the time I sure hadn’t thought about it. It was my roommate, Cory Bennett. He told me he didn’t think I’d be good at it and he wanted to see me get beat up.

“He wanted to have a good laugh at my expense. So he dared me, and I started the moment I got out of school. I had four amateur fights and here I am.”

A colleague, Brian Hewitt, once looked out at the hang gliders soaring off the Torrey Pines cliffs and wondered: “How do you practice for that?” I wonder about MMA. This isn’t boxing. How do you spar?

“Very carefully,” Davis says.

They go after each other in practice. Although they wear headgear, they grapple and make submissive moves.

I’m talking with Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, one of the recognized MMA experts (the sport is huge in Vegas), and he says: “The sport is so accessible. Hard-core fans can walk into Alliance (the Chula Vista gym where Davis trains) and see five or six UFC fighters and guys aspiring to get there. You can see two high-level guys sparring.”

Davis is a soft-spoken fighter, hardly outrageous, at least not yet near the level of his Saturday opponent. If the fight is anything like this recent Davis-Evans exchange during a conference call, Evans will win by submission.

Evans: “He ain’t ready. He knows he ain’t ready. I’m looking into his eyes and he ain’t ready. You’re just a boy. We’re going to see what kind of man you are because I know you ain’t no fighter.”

Davis: “Oh. OK, that’s scary. When I’m on top of you I’m going to remind you with every shot what you said.”

I ask Davis if he’s the good guy or the bad guy.

“It depends on who you ask,” he says. “I would say I’m the good guy and I would say most people would agree. My grandma would be very upset if I said I’m something other than the good guy. I have a nice following.”

Because of his wrestling experience, that part of MMA is Davis’ obvious strength. He owns a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but he’s still considered one-dimensional, not the best striker. Still, his wrestling expertise helps him overcome a lot. And his growth plates aren’t dormant.

“My goal is to just be the best,” Davis says. “I want a belt. I want to be on top. A career in this sport can be long or short, depending on the athlete.”